BBQ and Big Hair

The higher the hair, the better the BBQ: Salt Lick hosts Theatre ActionProject's Big Hair Country Fair

Oliver Rajamani
Hot Club of Cowtown

Everyone already loves the Salt Lick for their barbeque. But what about for their beehives and bouffants?

Theatre Action Project (TAP), Austin's small-but-mighty nonprofit bringing theatre into and out of the classroom, invites you to join them at the Salt Lick this weekend for their ingeniusly creative Spring fundraiser, the Big Hair Country Fair.

Featuring the world famous flavors of all-you-can-eat Salt Lick BBQ (and all-you-can-drink cocktails), the event will also include carnival games, an old fashioned cake walk and even opportunities to pan for "gold."

The fair gets its unique and utterly repeatable name from the celebration of big hair here in Texas. And if you're not already hairsprayed closer to heaven, the good folks at Birds Barbershop will help you achieve all of your architectural hair dreams. After all, if you're going to be eating some of Texas' best barbeque, shouldn't you at least look the part?

To help you get in the spirit as well, two hand-picked musical acts will provide the Southern sounds for the day. Hot Club of Cowtown will get your boots scootin' with Western swing and Oliver Rajamani, dubbed the "gypsy cowboy," will astound you with his boundary-defying music.

From what we hear, there might also be a genuine Dolly Parton impersonator on the premises as well, but heaven only knows if we'll get a rendition of "Jolene" out of her.

TAP is a vital part of the Austin community, bringing creative opportunities to young people in the classroom, after school and through community based performance. The Spring fundraiser helps to support TAP's continued efforts to provide more programming and expand their reach to all students in the Austin area with their message of inspiration.

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Tickets to Theatre Action Project's Big Hair Country Fair are still available. Individual tickets are $75.00 and include all the food and drink (and hairpsray) you can muster.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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